Kyle Dickson
conductor
American conductor Kyle Dickson has built a reputation as an inspiring and dynamic presence on the podium. Recipient of the 2021 Grant Park Music Festival Advocate for Arts Award and the Concert Artists Guild's Richard S. Weinart Award, Dickson was recently appointed Assistant Conductor of the Memphis Symphony Orchestra and Conductor of the Memphis Youth Symphony. From 2021-23, he was a Salonen Fellow with the San Francisco Symphony under the guidance of Esa-Pekka Salonen and served as Assistant Conductor of the Chicago Sinfonietta under Mei-Ann Chen.
Recent appearances as guest conductor include engagements with the San Francisco Symphony, Minnesota Orchestra, National Symphony Orchestra, Detroit Symphony, Wichita Symphony, Oakland Symphony, and the Louisville Orchestra. In 2023-24, Dickson made debuts with the Pasadena Symphony, Marin Symphony, Portland Symphony (ME), and Ballet Memphis. He has served as Cover Conductor for the New York Philharmonic, St. Louis Symphony, and the San Diego Symphony; Assistant Conductor for concerts with the NDR Elbphilharmonie, Orchestre de Paris, and the Chicago Symphony Orchestra; and Concertmaster of the Chicago Composers Orchestra. Dickson has performed with the Grant Park Festival Orchestra, Lansing Symphony, and the Quad City Symphony. He was the Festival Napa Valley Revzen Conducting Fellow in 2023 and a Conducting Fellow at the National Orchestral Institute in 2022.
Trained as a violinist, Dickson was a prizewinner at the 2010 NANM (National Association of Negro Musicians, Inc.) National Concerto Competition. He has held chamber music residencies at Indiana University-South Bend and the United World College of South East Asia, and has served on the violin and chamber music faculty at the New Music School in Chicago. His playing can be heard on albums by artists including John Legend, Chance the Rapper, and Jessie J, as a member of the Matt Jones/Recollective Orchestra. Dickson studied conducting at the Colburn School and Northwestern University with Esa-Pekka Salonen and Victor Yampolsky.